Returns of the Day
by The Yuri Fangirl
Summary: Kagami has to spend her birthday at Konata's house while Tsukasa and the rest of her family are out of town, but how well will that work out when Konata has forgotten that it's Kagami's birthday?
1. Chapter 1

**For SevilResoleon ^_^ Sorry for the long wait. Hope you enjoy!**

**~The Yuri Fangirl**

* * *

"Tokyo Disneyland, huh?" Konata said thoughtfully as she sucked the chocolate off of a Pocky stick.

Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki were gathered around and eating lunch while Tsukasa discussed the Hiiragi family's vacation plans.

"I'm excited!" Tsukasa said cheerily. "We've been before, but Kagami and I were about 3 or 4 years old, so we don't remember much."

"Tokyo Disneyland is really fun, but I prefer to go to Sanrio Puroland. I love getting different Hello Kitty plushies everytime I go there," Miyuki put in.

Konata finished off the chocolate-less Pocky stick, and then pulled another one out of the box to start the process over again.

"I've never been to either of them. They're not exciting enough," she said with a shrug. Tsukasa gave a little smile.

"Because you can't defeat your enemies to gain skill points and level up, right?" the younger Hiiragi guessed, knowing how Konata's videogame-obsessed mind worked.

"Exactly! There's no amusement in these 'amusement' parks," Konata nodded. Tsukasa looked down at her bento box with a little sadness in her eyes.

"Kagami isn't going, though. I wish she would; I don't know how much fun I can have without her," she said.

Konata raised an eyebrow.

"Kagamin? Why isn't she going?" the otaku asked. Tsukasa shook her head.

"She said that she just doesn't want to go. She's not interested."

"Typical party pooper Kagami," Konata said impishly.

"But my parents don't want to just leave her alone at home. They aren't sure what to do with her. We might not even go at all because of it," the purple-haired girl explained.

"Nonsense, she can stay with me," Konata said simply. Tsukasa looked curiously at her friend.

"Really? You'd let her stay at your place?"

"Sure. No problem."

"That's a good idea. That way Kagami won't be left alone and you won't have to stay behind," Miyuki clarified.

"And plus, I get someone to play Street Fighter X Tekken with!" Konata added with girl-gamer fierceness, twiddling her thumbs like she was playing an invisible Xbox controller.

"…Is that the only reason you offered to let her stay with you?" Miyuki asked with a nervous smile.

"A girl can only pawn online strangers for so long," Konata answered matter-of-factly. Tsukasa giggled.

"I'll have to talk to my parents, but I'm sure they'll be okay with it," she said. Konata's eyes lit up.

"Yes! Ryu versus Heihachi! Kagami is sooooo going down!" the avid gamer exclaimed with a fist pump. Miyuki looked nervously at Tsukasa.

"I hope your sister can survive two days alone with Konata."

"Me too, Miyuki. Me too…"

* * *

"What? Spend the next two days with Konata?" Kagami yelled incredulously.

Her parents had just dropped the bomb on her, and Tsukasa sat innocently at the dining room table, watching the scene play out.

"Well, you didn't want to spend your birthday with us at Tokyo Disneyland like we had planned, and we really didn't want to force you to go…" Kagami's mother said.

"And we couldn't leave you home alone," her father put in.

"I would have stood a better chance alone than I would at Konata's house," Kagami said dryly, crossing her arms.

"Onee-chan, Konata is our friend," Tsukasa reminded her slightly older twin.

"Hmph, is she? We barely see her anymore. She hasn't been hanging out after school with us for weeks."

"Well…she's probably busy with something."

"Ha! Like what? Challenging the Pokemon League?"

Tsukasa tilted her head curiously.

"Why are you so mad at her? It's not like she's ignoring us completely. We still see her during school, and she calls us at home a lot," the youngest Hiiragi reasoned. Kagami didn't answer her twin; instead she turned with a huff and left the dining room.

_I just wish she'd think about someone…something else for once in her life, _Kagami thought to herself as she shuffled to her room.

* * *

The next day, the Hiiragi family was en route to the Izumi house, getting ready to drop off Kagami.

"Last chance to change your mind, Kagami," her father said from the driver's seat of the family car.

All four Hiiragi sisters were crammed into the backseat. Tsukasa was desperately hugging her older twin and making the best puppy dog eyes she could.

"Pleeeeeeeease change your mind, onee-chan!" she pleaded. "It's our birthday, it won't be the same without you!"

Kagami gave Tsukasa an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, Tsukasa. I just don't think I'd have a good time, and I wouldn't want to bring you down. We can have a late birthday celebration when you get back, okay?"

Tsukasa sadly stuck out her lower lip, but nodded and let go of her sister just as they pulled up to Konata's house. Kagami ruffled Tsukasa's hair, then said her goodbyes to her parents and two other sisters before getting out of the car. She waved after them as they drove away, then hoisted her overnight backpack onto her shoulders. She sighed as she stood alone on the Izumi's driveway.

_Well, here we go…_

"Kagamiiiin," said a lazy voice behind her. She jumped a foot into the air and spun around to find herself face to face with Konata.

"Yo!" Konata said coolly. Kagami was surprised that she had appeared so suddenly.

"Konata! What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I live here, remember? You got everything you need?" Konata said as she eyed Kagami's backpack. Kagami didn't answer, she just nodded once.

"Right then!" Konata exclaimed as she grabbed Kagami's hand and ran towards the house with her. "A wild Xbox appears! Konata used Double Team! It's super effective!"

Once again, Kagami sighed as she was pulled along by Konata.

"It's going to be a long two days…"

* * *

After seven rounds of being pummeled at Street Fighter, Kagami finally gave up and chucked her controller onto the floor.

"Not to fret, Kagami. A little online training and soon you'll be the queen of street fighting!" Konata said encouragingly. Kagami flopped backwards onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling.

"I don't feel like being the queen of street fighting right now," she muttered.

_There she goes again, thinking about video games and stuff…_

With a frown, Konata crawled over to her friend and peered intently at her.

"What's up with you?" she questioned curiously.

"Nothing. I just don't want to play Street Fighter anymore."

_You know, now that I think about it, Konata hasn't said anything to Tsukasa or I about our birthday…it figures that she would forget. Don't know why I'm surprised._

Konata suddenly got a devious gleam in her eyes.

"Well, if you don't want to play Street Fighter…"

With a dramatic whirl, she whipped out two card decks and pointed her finger at the lavender-haired girl on the floor.

"Kagami Hiiragi, I challenge you to a duel!" she yelled enthusiastically.

"What? Since when do you play Yu-Gi-Oh?" Kagami asked.

"Since one of my Shonen Jumps came with an Egyptian God Card," Konata answered candidly.

Despite being more annoyed than usual with Konata's aloofness and one-track mind, Kagami couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, you're on. But I get the deck with the God Card," she said as she rocked herself upright. Konata gasped at the demand.

"Are you kidding? After all the hardship and turmoil I went through to obtain it?" she cried overdramatically. Kagami snatched one of the decks out of her hand and shuffled through it, looking for the card in question.

"Pft, you went to the store and bought a Shonen Jump. That's the extent of your 'hardship'…aha! Found it! I get this deck!"

"Kagamin, you're so cruel…"

* * *

The sun was just starting to set as Kagami won her third straight duel against Konata, who was wide-eyed with disbelief.

"How could you beat me? You didn't even use the Winged Dragon of Ra once!" Konata was stunned.

"This game is about using your skills to win with what you have, not holding out for the most power and strength," Kagami lectured with a know-it-all grin.

"Not cool…it's one thing to have the advantage, but to not even use it…" the disappointed otaku mumbled to herself.

"Can't be helped," Kagami playfully stuck out her tongue.

Konata's house was empty except for her and Kagami, and in the relative silence a sudden ringing could be heard coming from the living room.

"Hmmm…oh, that's the phone," it took Konata a few seconds to figure out where the noise was coming from.

She stood up and leisurely made her way to the living room, with Kagami following behind.

"You could make an effort to get to the phone a little faster…" she scolded as her friend picked up the receiver.

"Why bother? They'll call back if it's important. Hello? …Oh, Tsukasa!"

"Tsukasa?" Kagami's eyes lit up at the sound of her sister's name.

"Yeah? Oh, nothing, just hanging out with your sister. Huh? Yep, she's right here," Konata handed the phone off to Kagami, who cheerily answered it.

"Hi Tsukasa!"

Kagami winced as her sister answered her back.

"Onee-chan!" the younger twin practically sobbed into her end of the phone. "I miss you!"

"Sis, you've only been gone 8 hours…at least wait until it's been half a day…" While Kagami talked to Tsukasa, she watched Konata shuffle down the hallway and make her way back to her bedroom. "So how's it going? Did you get there alright?"

"Uh-huh! We're checked into the hotel here. I'm sharing a room with Inori and Matsuri. What about you? Having fun with Konata?" Tsukasa asked. Kagami didn't answer; she just let out a little groan and looked up at the ceiling.

"Onee-chan? You're not still mad at her, are you?" Tsukasa inquired.

"*sigh* I don't know what it is. You'd think that I'd be used to her one-track mind by now, but something about it is just annoying the heck out of me. She never thinks about anything else. You know she hasn't mentioned anything about our birthday? Has she said anything to you?"

"Well…"

"Hmph. I knew it," Kagami muttered.

Konata returned to the living room, sporting a beanie, jacket, and wearing a small messenger bag across her shoulder.

"Kagami, I'm going out," she said plainly, heading for the front door.

"Huh? What? –Hang on a second Tsukasa—"Kagami lowered the phone from her ear. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Not far. Got an errand to run," she put her hand on the door handle.

"You're just gonna leave me here alone?" Kagami asked incredulously.

"I'll be right back. I'll be home before my dad gets here. Feel free to play any of my video games or read manga. Oh, but if you mess with my saved files, it won't be pretty," Konata said with a smile before she opened the door and left the house.

Kagami just stood there, mouth open, staring at the door Konata just exited from. She put the phone back up to her ear.

"Well, Konata just left me here to go run some stupid errand…"she grumbled.

"Kagami—"

"Look, I don't really feel like talking anymore. I'll see you the day after tomorrow, ok?"

"….O-okay, if you say so…" Tsukasa said quietly.

The girls hung up then, and Kagami leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor with a heavy sigh.

"It's the day before my birthday, and my entire family is miles away…I wish Konata would pay a little more attention to me…"


	2. Chapter 2

When Kagami woke up the next morning, the sky was gray and foggy with pre-dawn, as the sun was preparing to rise. She sat up in her bed and stretched out her arms with a yawn.

"Happy birthday to me…" she said quietly and despondently.

She slowly got out of bed and paused to look out the window at the early morning sky.

"It's still so early…but I'm not tired anymore, I can't go back to sleep. I bet Konata's still up playing computer games; she probably hasn't even gone to bed yet."

On that note, Kagami left the guest bedroom and quietly made her way down the hallway to Konata's room. However, when she got there, she found the door wide open, the bed neatly made up, and the room completely empty.

"She's not here? There's no way she woke up this early, not Konata," Kagami was confused.

She searched the entire house for Konata, sneaking around on her tip-toes so as not to wake Konata's dad. But after checking every room twice, the willful otaku was nowhere to be found. Perplexed, Kagami made her way to the kitchen and sat down at the table there.

_She left the house this early? Without anyone knowing? How could she sneak out like that? Where could she possibly go at this hour?_

Just as Kagami was starting to get angry with how impetuous Konata was being, keys suddenly jangled in the doorway and the door could be heard slowly opening and closing. Kagami left the kitchen and marched to the entryway to meet Konata.

"There you are!" she hissed as Konata kicked off her shoes. She had taken her by surprise.

"Kagami? You're up already?" she asked with wide-eyes.

Kagami saw that the blue-haired earlybird was carrying a small plastic bag with the logo of a video game store on it. She crossed her arms and glowered at Konata.

"Seriously? It's not even six a.m. yet and you sneak out of the house to get a freaking game?" she growled.

"Kagami—"

"I know you're crazy and fanatical when it comes to your hobbies," she continued, "but this is just ridiculous! Isn't there anything more important you could focus on, instead of anime, manga, and games? If you just thought about something else for one, tiny nanosecond of your life—"

"Kagami!" Konata said again, taking her friend's hand to stop her tirade.

"What?" the Hiiragi girl answered with a glare.

Konata didn't say anything. She just smiled, and still holding Kagami's hand, led her back into the kitchen. She set the bag down on the kitchen table before walking Kagami over to the refrigerator.

"Look…" Konata said gently, then opened the fridge door with a flourish. Kagami gasped at what she saw inside.

Taking up an entire shelf was a large chocolate cake, ornately decorated with strawberries and cream, with a little chocolate sign plate on the front that read "~Kagamin~". She couldn't believe it; she just stood and stared in awe.

"Happy birthday, Kagamin," Konata said with a warm smile. Kagami turned to look at her, wide-eyed.

"You…you…made this…for me?" she stammered. Konata nodded and closed the fridge door.

"I woke up especially early so it would be nice and fresh for today."

Kagami was still reeling with surprise, and she gasped again as realization hit her.

"That's where you went out to yesterday! To buy the cake ingredients!" she said.

"Uh-huh!" Konata answered proudly. "Pretty important errand, in my opinion."

"Then…where were you just now?" Kagami questioned.

Konata picked up her plastic bag again and made Kagami follow her into the living room, where they sat next to each other on the couch.

"Can't have a birthday without a present," she said as she handed the bag to her friend.

Kagami gingerly took the bag and reached inside. When she pulled out the contents, she let out her loudest gasp yet.

"Konata! This game! I've been waiting months for this! How did you know I— wait a minute, this isn't even supposed to be released for another two weeks! How could you—"

"You don't think I have friends in high places with all the video game shopping I do?" Konata explained. "I pulled some strings at one of my favorite places to get it early. It just cost a little bit extra."

Another lightbulb went off above Kagami's head.

"Is that why you've always been busy after school? You were working longer at your part-time job to earn the money for this game?"

Konata gave another simple nod. Kagami's mind finally processed everything, and her eyes welled up with tears as she threw her arms around Konata and hugged her tight.

"I thought you had forgotten my birthday…"

Kagami's reaction had taken Konata by surprise, but soon she was hugging her back.

"Like I could forget my best friend's birthday," she said softly

Kagami let go of Konata and wiped her eyes.

"What about Tsukasa?" she wondered.

"She got her present at school, the day before she left. I asked her to keep your gift a secret. Between you and me, you're kinda my favorite twin," Konata admitted playfully. Kagami laughed.

"I can't believe you did this for me, Konata."

"Your birthday is a day of celebration for both of us, because I'm really grateful that you were born," she grinned.

Kagami stared adoringly at her friend, unable to believe the birthday surprise she had pulled off. As she watched, Konata slowly closed her eyes and leaned her head against the back of the couch.

"Konata?"

"Mmmm, sleepy," she answered with her eyes still closed. "Got up early to make your cake, then when I finished that I went out to get your game…"

Kagami scooted over on the couch and laid her head on Konata's shoulder.

"You did a good job, you deserve a nap," she said as she too closed her eyes.

There they sat, getting closer and closer to sleep as the sun was starting to rise and turn the sky crimson.

"Kagami, there's gonna be a fireworks show today," Konata said drowsily. "It would be like they're setting off the fireworks especially for you. Wanna go?"

"Sounds like fun…but I'd rather just spend the rest of the day here with you."

Konata gave a little smile with her eyes closed. The sunlight started to stream through the living room windows, bathing the two girls in comforting morning warmth. Konata leaned her head sideways to rest it on Kagami's.

"That's fine by me…happy birthday, Kagamin."

"And many more to come."


End file.
